Home Chat General Chat

Why do i always get an injury just before an event??

It's always running,

It's always when i'm pushing up the speed!

Any ideas on how to prevent this - more stretching?? - probably could do a bit more gentle jogging before i start the speed work??

Do you reckon it's just a lack of flexibility - i can just about touch my toes??

Or a lack of base fitness?

Any thoughts would be interested to hear...

Comments

  • God hates you.

    Or

    What kind of stretching are you doing?

    Look into dynamic stretching,

    Also are you supporting your efforts with a good diet?
  • willtriwilltri Posts: 436
    Doing dynamic, decent diet.... might just be cursed!!
  • what kind of injuries? is it the same thing or different things?
  • willtriwilltri Posts: 436
    always the hamstring,
    always after running!
  • Running is hard on the body. Running hard is harder still.

    What percentage of your running is done at Easy/Recovery, compared with Tempo, LT and above?

    If you feel you are injury prone you might want to look at altering the balance - not in terms of miles, but in terms of time.

    for example, a ratio, like:
    1 hour of LT+ for every 2 hours of Tempo for every 3 hours of Easy/Recovery
    could be swapped for
    1 hour of LT+ for every 3 hours of Tempo for every 6 hours of Easy/recovery.

    (Generally, you should have a pyramid - i..e more time on easy than on hard). If you are replacing easy/recovery runs with cycling, then you might want to re-introduce these.

    What do you do in the gym? Lightish (i.e. not muscle gain) weights for legs and core, stretches etc. This should also be a reasonably factor, time wise, in your running programme. Lots of self massage, foam roller fun, or paid for massage if you can afford it.

    Basically, increase the percentage of gym, easy/recovery, until the problem goes away!

    --
    Warm up properly before a hard session. Take it too extremes. Warm up should include dynamic stretches - full range of motion leg swings lunges, etc. (not static stretches), plus a bit of running around, striding etc. Try to do the warm up on soft ground. Spend at least 20 minutes on it.

    --
    Check shoes etc.
    Try running in compression socks if it is calf problems you are having.
    Investigate techniques like ChiRunning.
    --
    Make sure you are recovering from the injury properly.
    --
    Now it is getting towards winter, when you are properly better, really focus on base building - use an HRM to make sure you are running nice and slowly, and really put the emphasis on to that. Hold back from doing speed work, even though you want to. Do gentle stuff for at least three weeks - but as long as you can - six weeks perhaps, before re-introducing speed work. Even then take it steadily and make sure you are warmed up etc.
    --
    It will take time, and be frustrating! But you will loose less than you would to injury.

    Edit: Try running in compression tights, or look at a compression bandage for the thigh.
  • might be going against the grain here, but you could also try the opposite of what jack said about weights and go to build strength (thats in your 1 - 3 rep range). You may be moving from your (and excuse me if this isnt 100% accurate) type 1 and type 2a muscle fibres to your 2b muscle fibres and as those generally dont get trained by triathlon type training - so might be weak.

    dont worry about gaining muscle and thus getting heavier - you wont really gain a lot of muscle unless your working in the 5 + rep range AND eating to gain.
    Let Chi?Running help you focus your mind, lift your spirit and open up your flow of chi.
    Not a slight on jack at all, but statements like that set off my bullshido radar. That would put me off that right away.


    Do you squat at all?
  • comanighttrain wrote:

    Not a slight on jack at all, but statements like that set off my bullshido radar. That would put me off that right away.
    No problem with that. You can find out what I think about Chi Running on bcttt.com forum. However, it does help some people - amid the core of the tree-hugging silliness, are some good ideas, which can possibly help - and might be worth trying.

    Don't necessarily disagree about the weights either. "If you are not doing any then do some, if you are doing some, then do some more", would seem a reasonably pragmatic approach. I had to put a peg over my noise while reading it, because of the huge stink of b*s*.
  • willtriwilltri Posts: 436
    What do you do in the gym? Lightish (i.e. not muscle gain) weights for legs and core, stretches etc. This should also be a reasonably factor, time wise, in your running programme. Lots of self massage, foam roller fun, or paid for massage if you can afford it.
    No time in the gym at all.

    Spend a hour of so stretching each week / including a foam roller - then it's all the time i've got spare to fit in SBR.

    To be fair i had an injusry at the start of the year so only ran twice/thrice before May - so probably lacking a bit of base - should maybe have carried on saving myself for next year but carried away with the race on Sunday!!!
    Do you squat at all?
    - Never!

    Going to do a much more structured running plan next year. Loads of decent low intensity miles and then a pyramid like Jack suggests.

    Could you just confirm i'm right?

    LT+ is really hammering it (my hr of around 168-184)
    Tempo - decent pace (152 - 168)
    Recovery - below that?!?

    Cheers guys.
  • willtri wrote:
    Do you squat at all?
    - Never!

    Fix that if you can - a good strong squat will do wonders for your...everything really, makes your back and legs (quads, hams) strong, abs, neck. Do it right and itll save you from a lot of injuries. Infact if you do one exercise to compliment your tri, or even just one exercise, squat.

    That aside, the hr stuff isnt really my territory so ill leave that to someone else
  • Yeah.. if you know your Lactate Threshold in terms of HR, then LT is that or above. Tempo is just below LT. And Easy/moderate/marathon is below that, and recovery below that.. or the other way round. People use the names in different ways! But I think you are on the right lines!

    I do a lot of squats - big bar thing with weights on the end, held across shoulders behind head. Squat down, and all the way up on to toes.

    Lunges are a good thing too, especially with a weight in each hand. Walking lunges, or lunges to the side and front.

    Standing on a wobble cushion and doing single leg squats is also good as that really uses a whole load of muscle groups.
  • willtriwilltri Posts: 436
    Another thing to add to the list Squats, lunges, and a decent pyramid base.

    It's a shame, with her being only one and all that, but the daughters going to have to go

    Just not going to have time for her next year!
  • you can get a pretty good price for one of those right now man get on ebay
  • willtriwilltri Posts: 436
    You can see it now.

    In the Daily Star or something.

    Triathlete puts baby on sale to buy TT Bike....

    The missus would not be best pleased!!
  • ...and bringing this back on topic.

    It's hard to say what's causing your injury, as it could be any number of things - lack of flexibility, muscle imbalance, poor running form...

    I'd guess though it's muscle imbalance. It can happen a lot in Tri, as the quads get a lot of work on the bike, especially if you like a lower cadence like me.

    There's some good advice above, complex exercises are the best - however depending what the problem is they could make it worse! ie squating will predominantly strengthen quads & glutes, so if your hamstrings are comparatively weak, it's not a good move. Best bet would be to get a good gym assessment done.

    ...but you probably should be stretching more too.
  • willtriwilltri Posts: 436
    hummm.

    i did have a right knee injury earlier this year and the hamstring is always in the other leg. Could be favouring that leg???

    To the physio!
  • GHarvGHarv Posts: 456
    Agree with Jacks points above.

    Having struggled with injuries from running over the years myself the biggest cause tends to be overtraining - building intesity or mileage to quickly or going out of the house and straight into race pace or treating most runs as a race.

    Find a distance you can run where your injury doesn't flare up.

    That's your starting point.

    10% a week increases from there - no more.

    When you start to build up try the run walk strategy - absolutly the best way i've come accross to build your mileage a little more than the 10% if you must and stay injury free.
  • ironkavironkav Posts: 259
    Sounds to me link tightness of hips, and nervous system around glutes and lower back.

    A lot of the above is correct too. Have a go at this stretch though.

    Sit on a bench/table having the table edge right behind your 2 knees.
    Slouch or drop your shoulders/chest towards your stomach exagerating a forward curve on your back.
    Let your arms hang down to the side.
    Now try to straighten your leg straight out in front of you.
    One at a time (OUCH!!)

    You should feel the stretch from the back your knee to your hip all along the hamstring.
    Do that nightly.

    IK (not a doctor/physio)
  • willtriwilltri Posts: 436
    ironkav wrote:
    Sounds to me link tightness of hips, and nervous system around glutes and lower back.

    A lot of the above is correct too. Have a go at this stretch though.

    Sit on a bench/table having the table edge right behind your 2 knees.
    Slouch or drop your shoulders/chest towards your stomach exagerating a forward curve on your back.
    Let your arms hang down to the side.
    Now try to straighten your leg straight out in front of you.
    One at a time (OUCH!!)

    You should feel the stretch from the back your knee to your hip all along the hamstring.
    Do that nightly.

    IK (not a doctor/physio)
    Think i might be lacking a bit of felxibility ....can't get anywhere near to having a straight leg...

    Cheers IK - i'll report back in a month to see where i am....
  • ironkavironkav Posts: 259
    no bother,

    this will help to loosen out your hamstrings and nerves..

    lunges and hip flexers should be done nightly IMO. Make sure your warm though.

    IK
  • I agree with comanighttrain - squats are excellent for improving core stability, balance and strengthening those often ignored butt muscles.
    You could also try a few of the following which I have found to prevent injury:
    - single leg squats as part of your warm up. Bend knee, going down as far as is comfy, then hold for 10 secs. Repeat 5 times on each leg. You can also do this while you're stood in any queue without looking too much of a twit.
    - mix your running up on different surfaces. Running on grassy or other uneven surfaces can strengthen your glutes and give you better stability, as your foot has to adjust position every time it lands due to the unpredictable nature of the surface. Try and make your runs cover as wide a variety opf surfaces as possible.
    - Cross train - other sports which involve a lot of leg power - roller blading, ice skating, mountain biking, skiing, etc.
Sign In or Register to comment.